Planning Phase 2005-06
"Curriculum for the Bioregion" Initiative
Project description: The "Curriculum for the Bioregion" Initiative aims to better prepare college and university students, as well as ourselves, to live in a world where the complex issues of environmental quality, environmental justice, and sustainability are important, if not paramount. This new curriculum reform initiative of the Washington Center, based on the idea of bioregional learning and engagement, underscores a connected inter-institutional effort.
Geographic focus: The Washington Center has received funding from The Russell Family Foundation to lay the groundwork for this multi-year initiative. The focus of the first phase is a 15-month process of assessment, asset mapping, network-building, leadership development, and collaborative planning with selected two- and four-year colleges and universities from among the 36 public and private higher education institutions within the counties surrounding Puget Sound, Washington.
Activities for 2005-06: This planning phase includes one- and two-day visits to 20 campuses, surveys of faculty, staff and students on existing curriculum and related activities, and a one-day Think Tank event (to be held at Evergreen in January 2006) to identify and shape directions that this initiative might take. The results will be published in a report, available March 2006, in print and on the Washington Center website (www.evergreen.edu/washcenter).
Anticipated outcomes: We hope that the campus visits will create a new way for people to talk about community-based learning, civic engagement, and sustainability based on stewardship of the bioregion. Specific outcomes of this planning phase include: a deeper understanding of what is on the ground now and what people aspire to in their work; an assets map of people, model projects and, most importantly, aspirations and energy; a set of priority ideas for faculty and curriculum development; and, new or stronger networks on individual campuses (and among institutions) related to learning situated in this bioregion.
Project lead and steering committee: Jean MacGregor, Senior Scholar at the Washington Center for Improving the Quality of Undergraduate Education, is the project director of this new Washington Center initiative. She will be working with Washington Center’s Co-Directors and a project steering committee of 25 faculty and administrators drawn from the involved campuses. Other project partners include the Whidbey Institute, Washington Campus Compact, and Education For Sustainability-Western Network.
For more information: On the "Curriculum for the Bioregion" Initiative, contact Jean MacGregor (tel. 360-867-6608 or macgjean@evergreen.edu). For information on Washington Center go to website www.evergreen.edu/washcenter or contact Washington Center Co-Directors Gillies Malnarich (360-867-6609 or malnarig@evergreen.edu) or Emily Lardner (360-867-6637 or lardnere@evergreen.edu).